U.S. patent application number 13/605690 was filed with the patent office on 2012-12-27 for cooperative system for measuring electronic media.
Invention is credited to John S. Houston.
Application Number | 20120331498 13/605690 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 25376111 |
Filed Date | 2012-12-27 |
United States Patent
Application |
20120331498 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Houston; John S. |
December 27, 2012 |
COOPERATIVE SYSTEM FOR MEASURING ELECTRONIC MEDIA
Abstract
A cooperative electronic media measurement system is disclosed
that measures the electronic media usage of one or more individuals
by a media research entity. The media research entity defines at
least one specialized task useful to the media research entity. The
at least one specialized task is performed by a media handler
provided by another entity and concerns a handling of electronic
media by the media handler. The individual is tracked with at least
one software agent of the media research entity. At least one
software agent obtains a product of the specialized task performed
by the media handler via at least one defined interface that
provides interoperability between the media handler and the at
least one software agent. Cooperative media handlers automatically
obtain information from, or otherwise obtain information about,
presented media objects including identification tags, if present,
and other information, for collection by the research data
collection agents.
Inventors: |
Houston; John S.; (New York,
NY) |
Family ID: |
25376111 |
Appl. No.: |
13/605690 |
Filed: |
September 6, 2012 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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10283953 |
Oct 30, 2002 |
8266646 |
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13605690 |
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10026872 |
Dec 21, 2001 |
8181194 |
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10283953 |
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08880371 |
Jun 23, 1997 |
6353929 |
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10026872 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
725/14 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04H 60/31 20130101;
H04H 20/38 20130101; H04H 60/66 20130101; H04H 60/45 20130101; H04H
60/33 20130101; G06Q 30/0204 20130101; G06Q 30/02 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
725/14 |
International
Class: |
H04N 21/24 20110101
H04N021/24 |
Claims
1. A method of measuring the electronic media usage of an
individual by a media research entity, including the steps of:
defining at least one specialized task useful to the media research
entity for a media handler provided by a second entity to perform,
the at least one specialized task concerning a handling of
electronic media by the media handler; tracking the individual with
at least one software agent of the media research entity, wherein
at least one of the software agents obtains a product of the
specialized task performed by the media handler via at least one
defined interface that provides interoperability between the media
handler and the at least one software agent; and receiving from at
least one of the software agents the product of the specialized
task.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation of pending U.S. patent
application Ser. No. 10/026,872, filed Dec. 21, 2001, which is a
continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/880,371, filed
Jun. 23, 1997, each incorporated by reference herein.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The present invention relates generally to a system for
measuring a population's exposure to and interactions with
electronic media (hereinafter, "electronic media measurement
systems"), and more particularly, to a cooperative electronic media
measurement system using media handlers to extract information
from, or otherwise obtain information about, presented media
objects, including identification tags, if present, for collection
by software agents on behalf of a centralized media research
facility.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] The success of any advertising campaign depends on the
accurate placement of advertisements within media, and the
verification that specific advertising messages were presented in
accord with a predefined media plan. Generally, an advertising
campaign is targeted for one or more segments of a population, with
media planners determining the best media vehicles to reach the
target audience. In this manner, the advertiser seeks to find the
most efficient media to minimize the cost to deliver a desired
audience.
[0004] Thus, prior to executing a given advertising campaign, media
planners use syndicated research, such as Nielsen ratings, to
determine the best media vehicles to reach a target audience. In
addition, media planners utilize other information sources to
research and compare the costs associated with reaching an audience
through each available media vehicle. During a given advertising
campaign, it is helpful to measure the target audience's exposure
to the advertising messages, since media planners might make
corrections in order to optimize the execution of the media plan.
Likewise, after a given advertising campaign, media planners often
analyze the execution of the campaign to confirm that the
advertising messages reached the targeted audience to determine the
accuracy of the campaign's messages in reaching the targeted
audience.
[0005] As audiences have fragmented, due to the increasing number
of available channels and online options, it has become
increasingly challenging for media planners to determine which
media vehicles provide the best avenue to a given audience. The
Internet, in particular, provides advertisers with many media
options and is becoming ubiquitously available in an expanding
variety of personal electronic devices, far beyond its initial
limited availability to users via computer terminals and desktop
computers. As with other media, advertising has become an important
part of Internet revenue models. Much of the Internet's value to
the advertising community is due to its enormous and evolving
diversity of advertising formats, including the banner ad and Java
applets, and its capability to deliver customized and relevant
advertising to end users. For a more detailed discussion of
advertising media, see D. Jugenheimer et al., Advertising Media
Strategy and Tactics (W.C.B. Brown & Benchmark, 1992),
incorporated by reference herein.
[0006] Thus, the Internet provides an efficient mechanism for
matching the advertising message to the appropriate segment of the
audience. Such diverse advertising formats, however, present
challenges for measuring a population's exposure to and
interactions with such advertisements. While the success of the
Internet can be attributed, in large part, to its open media
standards that permit the creation and delivery of content having
diverse formats across many platforms, there is currently no
user-centric system capable of adequately measuring the diverse
media formats across the growing variety of Internet-enabled
consumer platforms, consistent with the needs of the advertising
community.
[0007] Generally, a given population's exposure to and interactions
with media is measured by knowing the television channels and other
information sources that the members of the population select. This
can be performed either as a census, where the choices of the
entire population are collected, or as a sample, where a
statistically valid sub-population or panel is chosen to represent
the entire population. Nielsen Media Research, for example, uses a
panel of households, known as "Nielsen Families," for measuring
television viewing. Such panels enable research companies to
correlate demographics, such as age, gender, income and education,
with choice of content.
[0008] Conventional content frequently contains, or is associated
with, metadata that provides information about the content. For
example, many broadcasters transmit information with conventional
programming to help identify the content, for example, by program
and episode. Nielsen, for example, extracts such accompanying
information for measurement purposes to track the programs viewed
by certain members of a panel. In addition, smart electronic
program guides use such accompanying information to help
individuals or their agents find content of interest.
[0009] Similarly, the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), has endorsed
the Platform for Internet Content Selection (PICS), which is an
open standard for tagging information and coding content on the
Internet. The PICS standard is designed to allow software to
automatically filter content that individuals choose not to
receive, such as violent content, according to a ratings system.
The PICS standard provides parents and other individuals with the
ability to select categories of content that can be automatically
blocked, in a similar manner to V-chip technology, for conventional
programming. While the PICS standard allows an entire web site or
static pages to be rated, the PICS standard does not permit tagging
content on an object level.
[0010] In addition, traditional electronic advertising, such as
television and radio advertisements, have unique identification
codes, or Industry Standard Commercial Identification (ISCI) codes,
which are used for handling, broadcasting, storing and retrieving
commercials. Under the ISCI standard, an ISCI alpha prefix and an
ISCI numeric code identify each commercial. An ISCI prefix is
assigned by ISCI to national and regional advertisers and
advertising agencies. The ISCI code may be used in any manner, at
the discretion of the prefix owner, provided the code consists of
four letters followed by four numbers. Although ISCI codes are not
presently encoded as computer readable data with each
advertisement, they might evolve to do so for Internet advertising,
to better manage advertising on the Internet.
[0011] There exists both "pull" and "push" models for delivering
Internet content. On traditional web sites, individuals "pull"
content by browsing. These web sites can use tools to analyze the
"hits" to their sites in real-time. Additionally, there exist
"push" models of content delivery, such as provided by
PointCast.TM.. PointCast.TM. is a webcasting service that "pushes"
or streams a variety of information, including editorial and
advertising content, to a receiving software component, such as
their proprietary screensaver, or Microsoft's Internet Explorer
browser, version 4.0. Presently, each PointCast.TM. subscriber
self-reports demographic information. Therefore, PointCast.TM. can
provide advertisers with user-centric information about advertising
exposure. Self-monitoring, however, is contrary to advertising
industry guidelines, which express a preference for measurement by
a disinterested third party. In addition, the PointCast.TM. system
is limited to measuring only electronic media distributed by
PointCast.TM..
[0012] Even assuming that an independent auditor verified such
site-centric measurements, the measurements often do not accurately
reflect the activity of individuals. For example, many of the
"hits" on a web site are associated with electronic agents that
perform functions on the Internet on behalf of individuals.
Examples of such electronic agents include web robots, issued by
search engines such as those provided by Infoseek Corp. to index
the contents of the Internet, and personal agents that
automatically retrieve information from the Internet that matches
the specified preferences of an individual. Thus, such electronic
agents increase the traffic count of the respective web site, as
they are not necessarily representative of an individual viewing
Internet content. For example, an agent might download the entire
contents of a site, while the user only views a single article.
Proxy servers, on the other hand, which cache or copy Internet
content to a local server or hard disk drive for subsequent access,
can decrease the traffic count of a given web site. Proxy servers
are used to reduce access time by storing a copy of information
that was recently downloaded from a site. Thus, upon a subsequent
request, the information can be delivered from the local server
rather than the Internet without the knowledge of the web site
traffic counter.
[0013] While conventional electronic media measurement systems,
such as Nielsen Media Research's PeopleMeter.TM., have successfully
measured traditional media, such as television and radio, such
systems are not easily extendable to the Internet environment. In
addition, the site-centric measurement approaches discussed above
have proven unsatisfactory. In order to accurately measure a
population's exposure to and interactions with such electronic
media, a user-centric measurement approach is needed which is based
on a panel chosen to be statistically representative of the total
population of interest. Current user-centric Internet measurement
systems, however, such as the NPD Group's PC Meter.TM., are based
on interception and interpretation of electronic media presented to
members of a panel. Such interception techniques, however, rely on
observing calls by software applications to the operating system
and require privileged access into operating system internals.
Furthermore, PC Meter.TM. is currently limited to household users
of the Windows.TM. operating system, which may not be statistically
representative of the total population of interest. For a more
detailed discussion of the PC Meter.TM. system, see PCT Published
Application Number WO 96/41495.
[0014] It is believed that observing operating system internals
will become increasingly challenging, if not impossible, with the
trend towards more secure operating systems and communication
security. Windows NT.TM. from Microsoft.TM., for example,
implements a concentric ring structure of ascending privilege with
an outermost ring of lowest privilege and an innermost ring of
highest privilege, from which applications are excluded, based on
the processor ring architecture specified by Intel Corporation. As
security services become more available to Internet applications,
both for computer-to-computer communications and
application-to-application communications, much of this internal
traffic will be encrypted. In addition, such operating system
monitoring techniques will be challenging to implement within the
many proprietary implementations of Internet-enabled devices, such
as WebTV.TM.. Even assuming that such user-centric measurement
systems are successful in obtaining access to these communications,
it is very challenging to understand what the intercepted messages
mean.
[0015] A recent industry article indicates that a new company,
Relevant Knowledge Inc., of Atlanta, Ga., has developed a real-time
approach to compete with the PC Meter.TM. system. Although Relevant
Knowledge Inc. did not comment publicly for the article, it does
not appear that Relevant Knowledge Inc. is using a cooperative
approach. Rather, it appears that Relevant Knowledge Inc. is
monitoring information, using interception and interpretation, and
leveraging the communication capabilities of the Internet to
distribute their monitoring software to their panel members and to
collect data in real-time.
[0016] As apparent from the above-described deficiencies with
conventional electronic media measurement systems, a need exists
for a universal system for measuring electronic media having
diverse formats, including television, radio, Internet, and online
services, across a plurality of platforms. A further need exists
for a cooperating system that extends the open media standards of
the Internet to measure a population's exposure to and interactions
with such electronic media. Yet another need exists for a system to
measure traditional television, radio, cable television, digital
satellite programming and advertising delivered to households that
use Internet-enabled computers and appliances for viewing,
listening and interacting with such content.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0017] Generally, a method and apparatus are disclosed for
measuring the electronic media usage of one or more individuals by
a media research entity. The media research entity defines at least
one specialized task useful to the media research entity. The at
least one specialized task is performed by a media handler provided
by another entity and concerns a handling of electronic media by
the media handler. The individual is tracked with at least one
software agent of the media research entity. At least one software
agent obtains a product of the specialized task performed by the
media handler via at least one defined interface that provides
interoperability between the media handler and the at least one
software agent.
[0018] The media research entity can assign one or more software
agents, hereinafter referred to as research data collection (RDC)
agents, to measure an individual's exposure to and interactions
with electronic media. Thus, each research data collection agent
serves as an intermediary between the local environment of an
individual and the central media research entity. In one
embodiment, a research data collection agent is associated with
each computing device utilized by a given individual. Thus, an
individual might be assigned multiple research data collection
agents, if required, to measure the individual's use of electronic
media across multiple devices. Furthermore, a single research data
collection agent may serve a plurality of individuals utilizing the
same computing device.
[0019] According to a further aspect of the invention, cooperative
media handlers are utilized by the computing device of an
individual to present media to an individual and to extract
information from, or otherwise obtain information about, the media
objects, including identification tags, if present, for collection
by the research data collection agents. As used herein, the term
cooperating system means a system that relies on the media handler
software which presents the media to cooperate by gathering and
developing information about media activities of end users, and
transmitting such activity information to the media research
controller, either directly or indirectly via the research data
collection agents, in effect acting as agents of the media research
controller, as opposed to conventional approaches of intercepting
and interpreting the media activities of end users.
[0020] As used herein, the term media handler includes persistent
software components which extend the capabilities of a software
application or operating system to present media objects of a
particular media type to an individual and autonomous software
components, such as Java applets, which may only temporarily extend
the capabilities of the host to present media. In addition, the
term media handler includes software applications that generate
media experiences in real-time, such as video games, and resident
software components, such as the PointCast.TM. agent, which present
media to end users. In addition, the term media handler includes
those portions of an Internet browser, also called "viewers" and
"plug-ins", that are capable and responsible for decoding specific
media types, such as JPEG images, and using the resources of their
host to present the media to the end user. The media handlers may
be mobile, moving from one host computer to another, or stable,
anchored to one host.
[0021] Thus, in addition to their primary function of presenting
media, the cooperative media handlers also serve as software agents
for the research data collection agents, by gathering and deriving
relevant information about the media presentation on behalf of the
research data collection agents and then sending this information
to the research data collection agents. The media handlers are in
the best position to provide information about the media objects
presented to the individuals, since the media handler can decode
the particular media type, and determine what is presented to the
individual, when it is presented and how the individual interacts
with the object. In this manner, the media handler can report on an
individual's exposure to and interactions with a media object, such
as zooming in on a particular feature of a media object or rotating
the object, and the source of the control signals, such as a
specific individual or process. In the case of stable, installed
media handlers, such as video games or screensaver clients; or in
the case of mobile, transient media handlers, such as a Java applet
advertisement, they become cooperative through the implementation
of an application programming interface (API), and communicate to
the research data collection agents via their host. In all of these
instances, the media handler's host might contribute contextual
information, such as the web site of origin, to the media handler
along with the media object.
[0022] The research data collection agents and the cooperative
media handlers (the hosted processes) can communicate using at
least one defined interface, such as an application programming
interface (API) to define the function calls which the hosted
processes and their hosts use to communicate and share resources
and services, or a communication protocol. In this manner,
different companies can develop interoperable research data
collection agents, cooperative media handlers and hosts.
[0023] When electronic media is received by a cooperative media
handler, the media handler automatically extracts information from,
or otherwise obtains information about, the media, including an
identification tag, if present, for transmission to a research data
collection agent. In addition to the extracted identification tag,
if present, the cooperative media handler preferably transmits any
content metadata associated with the media object, including
program, episode and version for television and radio programming;
identifiers of the media handler and the host of the media handler;
timestamps related to the presentation; any contextual information
which has been made available to the media handler, such as an
indication of the media source for television and radio
programming, or a source computer's domain name or IP address for a
web site, or the context in which it was presented; presentation
information; user interaction information; and content rating
information, such as PICS, if available.
[0024] A more complete understanding of the present invention, as
well as further features and advantages of the present invention,
will be obtained by reference to the following detailed description
and drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0025] FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram illustrating a suitable
communications network for interconnecting a panel member with one
or more content providers and a media research controller of an
electronic media measurement system;
[0026] FIG. 2 illustrates the communications and cooperative
relationship between the various entities shown in FIGS. 1, 3 and
4;
[0027] FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram of the media research
controller of FIG. 1;
[0028] FIG. 4 is a schematic block diagram of a panel
member-computing device of FIG. 1;
[0029] FIG. 5 illustrates a sample table from the panel member
database table of FIG. 2;
[0030] FIG. 6 illustrates a sample table from the registered media
database table of FIG. 2;
[0031] FIG. 7 illustrates a sample table from the encryption keys
database table of FIG. 2;
[0032] FIG. 8 illustrates a sample table from the log entry
database table of FIG. 2;
[0033] FIG. 9 illustrates a sample table from the local panel
member database table of FIG. 3;
[0034] FIG. 10 illustrates a sample table from the local encryption
keys database table of FIG. 3;
[0035] FIG. 11 illustrates a sample log entry object from the media
queues of FIG. 3;
[0036] FIG. 12a is a flow chart describing an exemplary tag
registration and encoding process as implemented by the media
research controller of FIG. 3;
[0037] FIGS. 12b and 12c illustrate an exemplary identification tag
format definition for a real identification tag and a dummy
identification tag, respectively;
[0038] FIG. 13 is a flow chart describing a data importing process
as implemented by the media research controller of FIG. 3;
[0039] FIG. 14 is a flow chart illustrating a reporting process as
implemented by the media research controller of FIG. 3;
[0040] FIG. 15a provides an overview of the processes shown in
FIGS. 15b through 15f on the media queues of FIG. 4;
[0041] FIG. 15b is a flow chart describing a logging process as
implemented by the research data collection agent of FIG. 4;
[0042] FIG. 15c is a flow chart describing a filter process as
implemented by the research data collection agent of FIG. 4;
[0043] FIG. 15d is a flow chart describing a tag decoding
subroutine as implemented by the research data collection agent of
FIG. 4;
[0044] FIG. 15e is a flow chart describing a create-dispatch object
process as implemented by the research data collection agent of
FIG. 4;
[0045] FIG. 15f is a flow chart describing a dispatch process as
implemented by the research data collection agent of FIG. 4;
[0046] FIG. 16 is a flow chart describing a suitable host tracking
process as implemented by the panel member-computing device of FIG.
4; and
[0047] FIG. 17 is a flow chart describing a cooperative media
handler process as implemented by the panel member-computing device
of FIG. 4.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0048] FIG. 1 shows an illustrative network environment for
transferring media information, such as video, audio and data, from
one or more content providers 110, 120, to a panel member 205
operating a panel member-computing device 400, discussed further
below in conjunction with FIG. 4, over one or more external
networks, such as network 130. In an alternative or supplemental
embodiment, discussed further below, the panel member-computing
device 400 may be configured to receive media information from one
or more local sources, such as prerecorded media obtained from a
CD-ROM or DVD player, or to generate media objects in real-time,
for example, by means of a video game generating an advertising
image with the name of the panel member for placement on a wall
inside a virtual world, or a combination thereof. According to a
feature of the present invention, the media information presented
to the panel member by means of the panel member-computing device
400 is measured by a media research controller 300, discussed
further below in conjunction with FIG. 3, for subsequent reporting
to one or more research customers 150. It is noted that the reports
may be generated by the media research controller 300 in real time,
or historically, or both.
[0049] The external networks 130 shown in FIG. 1 include the
Internet, the Public Switched Telephone Network ("PSTN") and
networks for the delivery of radio and television programming, such
as the Digital Satellite Service ("DSS.TM."), cable television
("CATV") and other over-the-air transmission networks for broadcast
television, radio and satellite communications. The PSTN, as used
herein, includes the combination of local and long distance wire or
wireless facilities and switches, as well as cellular network
systems. The Internet, as used herein, includes the World Wide Web
(the "Web") and other systems for storing and retrieving
information using the Internet.
[0050] According to a feature of the present invention, the media
research controller 300 registers advertisements and other media
for subsequent measurement and provides a unique identification tag
that may be added to, or associated with, the existing media object
for identification purposes. In addition, the present invention
extracts information from, or otherwise obtains information about,
presented media objects, including metadata or other information
associated with a given media object, for later collection by the
media research controller 300 even when the media object has not
been previously registered and tagged by the media research
controller 300. In this manner, the present invention measures a
panel member's exposure to and interactions with all electronic
media, regardless of whether the media has been previously
registered or tagged for identification purposes. The panel members
are preferably chosen for their demographics and have agreed to
participate in a research panel to have their electronic media
measured. The panel is preferably constructed so that it is
representative of and projectable to the entire population. It is
noted that if a census is desired, as opposed to a panel, the panel
simply consists of the entire population of interest.
Entity Relationships and Interfaces
[0051] As shown conceptually in FIG. 2, the present invention
preferably consists of a number of cooperating entities to measure
electronic media presented to a panel member 205 by means of the
panel member-computing device 400, namely, a centralized media
research controller 300, a research data collection agent 1500 and
a cooperative media handler 1700. As previously indicated, the
media research controller 300 measures a panel's exposure to and
interactions with electronic media for subsequent reporting to one
or more research customers 150. As used herein, the term
cooperating system means a system that relies on the media handler
software which presents the media to cooperate, by gathering and
developing information about media activities of end users, and
transmitting such activity information to the media research
controller, either directly or indirectly via the research data
collection agents, in effect acting as agents of the media research
controller, as opposed to conventional approaches of intercepting
and interpreting the media activities of end users.
[0052] To this end, the media research controller 300 preferably
assigns one or more software agents, referred to as research data
collection agents 1500, discussed further below in conjunction with
FIG. 15, to measure each panel member's exposure to and
interactions with electronic media. Thus, each research data
collection agent 1500 serves as an intermediary between the local
environment of a panel member 205 and the central media research
controller 300. In one embodiment, a research data collection agent
1500 is associated with each computing device 400 utilized by a
given panel member 205. Thus, a single panel member might be
assigned multiple research data collection agents, if required to
measure the panel member's use of electronic media across multiple
devices. Furthermore, a single research data collection agent 1500
may serve a plurality of panel members utilizing the same computing
device 400. It is not necessary for the research data collection
agent 1500 to be proximal to the associated panel member or the
panel member's physical environment. Since the research data
collection agent 1500 is user-centric, the agent 1500 might be a
component of the person's net-centric environment and be activated
as a side effect of the person obtaining access to network
resources, or the agent 1500 may reside on a smartcard carried by
the individual.
[0053] In addition, the cooperative media handlers 1700, discussed
below in conjunction with FIG. 17, are utilized by the panel
member-computing device 400 to present media to the panel member
205 and to extract information from, or otherwise obtain
information about, presented media objects, including
identification tags, if present, for collection by the research
data collection agents 1500. Thus, in addition to their primary
function of presenting media, the cooperative media handlers 1700
also serve as software agents for the research data collection
agents 1500, by gathering and deriving relevant information about
the media presentation on behalf of the research data collection
agents and then sending this information to the research data
collection agents. It is noted that while some of the media
handlers might be implemented as cooperative media handlers 1700,
as described herein, the present invention is not dependent upon
all of the media handlers being implemented in a cooperative
manner. However, the extent of research data collection agent's
1500 ability to measure a panel member's exposure to and
interactions with electronic media is limited to media presented by
means of a cooperative media handler 1700.
[0054] As used herein, a software agent is a software component
that has the ability and authority to act on behalf of a
controlling entity, generally instantiated as a process on a host
computer. Each agent's controlling entity provides the agent with
resources, such as encryption keys and a digital certificate for
identification, and delegates specific tasks to the agent. The
software agents manage these tasks, and operate in an autonomous or
semi-autonomous mode with respect to its controlling entity. The
software agents may be mobile, moving from one host computer to
another, or stable, anchored at one host.
[0055] The software agent's host preferably provides the software
agent with necessary computational resources, such as processor
cycles, memory and communication. In the illustrative embodiment,
discussed further below, an Internet browser software product, such
as Netscape Navigator.TM. or Microsoft Internet Explorer.TM.,
resident on the panel member-computing device 400, serves as the
host 1600 for the research data collection agent 1500 and the host
1600' for the cooperative media handler 1700 and provides them with
the required computational resources. In alternate embodiments, the
host for one or both of the research data collection agent and the
cooperative media handlers may be embodied as an operating system
or a virtual machine, such as the Java virtual machine. The
research data collection agent 1500 preferably communicates with
the media research controller 300 by means of the host's secure
communication capabilities, such as SSL or S/MIME. In addition, the
research data collection agent 1500 relies on its host 1600 to pass
through data sent by the cooperative media handler 1700 for
collection by a research data collection agent 1500.
[0056] The communications between the various entities are
preferably sufficiently encrypted to protect the privacy of the
panel members 205, the proprietary information and competitive
interests of the media research controller 300 and the validity of
the collected data, as would be apparent to a person of ordinary
skill. Furthermore, to protect the privacy of non-panel members,
the cooperative features of the hosts 1600, 1600', as described
herein, are preferably initially disabled when distributed to
end-users, and are only subsequently enabled when specifically
authorized by a panel member who has agreed to participate in a
research panel.
[0057] In some embodiments, the research data collection agent 1500
is not proximal to the panel member(s) it tracks, or the panel
member's physical environment. For example, the research data
collection agent might be hosted by the central computer of an
online service. In other embodiments, the research data collection
agent is hosted separately from the cooperative media handlers. For
example, the research data collection agent 1500 might be located
in a wristwatch worn by the panel member. Thus, the host services
and resources may reside locally or be accessed by means of a
network connection, or a combination thereof, as would be apparent
to a person of ordinary skill. It is noted that the research data
collection agents 1500 and the cooperative media handlers 1700
might typically share the same host or might be hosted separately,
for example, in an embodiment where the media research data
collection agent 1500 associated with a panel member 205 is
resident on a smartcard or wristwatch carried by an individual.
[0058] As illustrated in FIG. 2, the present invention relies on a
number of cooperative interfaces between the various entities. A
media object is presented to a panel member 205 by the cooperative
media handler 1700 using a conventional bi-directional user
interface 210. The cooperative media handler 1700 transmits
identification tags and other information extracted from, or
otherwise obtained about, media objects for collection by a
research data collection agent 1500, by means of a cooperative
interface 220. Upon receipt of an extracted identification tag or
other obtained information from a media handler 1700, the research
data collection agent 1500 sends a message to the media research
controller 300, preferably over an external network 130, containing
the extracted identification tag and other obtained
information.
[0059] In addition, as previously indicated, the research data
collection agents 1500 and the cooperative media handlers 1700 also
require interfaces to their respective hosts 1600, 1600'. In a
preferred embodiment, the research data collection agents 1500 and
the cooperative media handlers 1700 (the hosted processes) use an
application programming interface (API) to define the function
calls which the hosted processes and their hosts, such as the host
1600, use to communicate and share resources and services. In this
manner, different companies can develop interoperable research data
collection agents, cooperative media handlers and hosts.
Entity Functions
[0060] As previously indicated, when electronic media is received
by a cooperative media handler 1700 for presentation, the media
handler 1700 automatically extracts information from, or otherwise
obtains information about, presented media object, including an
identification tag, if present, and other relevant information, as
available, for transmission to a research data collection agent
1500. In addition to the extracted identification tag, if present,
the cooperative media handler 1700 preferably transmits any content
metadata included in or associated with the media object, including
program and episode information; an identification of media handler
and its host; any contextual information which has been made
available to the media handler 1700, such as an indication of the
media source for television and radio programming, or a source
computer's domain name or IP address for a web site; any
presentation information or user interaction information, and
content rating information, such as PICS, if available. Each of
these information types is discussed further below in conjunction
with FIG. 8.
[0061] A research data collection agent 1500 preferably commences
tracking of a panel member, and begins collecting such
transmissions from the cooperative media handlers 1700, when a
panel member enters the scope of the research data collection agent
1500 and has been identified and authenticated, for example,
following a log on procedure. Similarly, the research data
collection agent 1500 suspends tracking of a panel member 205 when
the person leaves the scope of the remote media research agent
1500, such as following a log off procedure. The research data
collection agent (i) creates log entry objects from transmissions
received from the cooperative media handlers and places the log
entry objects into an unfiltered media queue, (ii) confirms the
integrity of the messages and filters out unnecessary log entry
objects from the unfiltered media queue to create a filtered media
queue, (iii) creates dispatch objects using objects from the
filtered media queue and places created dispatch objects into a
dispatch queue, and (iv) transmits dispatch objects from the
dispatch queue to the media research controller, when resources are
available.
[0062] The cooperative media handlers 1700 preferably are not aware
of whether or not a research data collection agent 1500 is present
and measuring the content presented to a panel member, for the same
reason that the identities of Nielsen families are carefully
concealed from the media sources that Nielsen measures, to prevent
manipulation of the content presented to the panel members. Thus,
the cooperative media handlers 1700 preferably transmit information
extracted from, or otherwise obtained about, presented media
objects, for collection by a research data collection agent 1500,
whether or not a research data collection agent 1500 is present.
For efficiency purposes, however, when the same host 1600 is
hosting both the research data collection agent 1500 and media
handler 1700, the host may inhibit the cooperative media handler
1700 from transmitting information extracted from or obtained about
media objects when a research data collection agent 1500 is not
present, is not in a tracking mode or the panel members are not in
scope.
[0063] According to a feature of the present invention, the media
handlers 1700 thus cooperate with the research data collection
agents 1500 by gathering and deriving relevant information about
the media presentation on behalf of the research data collection
agents and then sending this information to the research data
collection agents. The media handlers 1700 are in the best position
to provide information about the media objects presented to the
panel members 205, since the media handler is responsible for
decoding or generating specific media objects, they determine what
is presented, how it is presented, when it is presented and how the
panel member 205 interacts with the presented media. Additionally,
the media handlers 1700 can extract metadata from the media object
and glean contextual information about the media object from the
media handler's host. Through their cooperation and assistance, the
research data collection agent can gain access to information that
might not be available in any other way.
[0064] Since the media research controller 300 can measure a
panel's exposure to and interactions with the cooperative media
handlers 1700 themselves, in addition to exposure to and
interactions with the underlying media objects of interest,
providers of media handlers are motivated to develop media handlers
which cooperate with the software processes of the present
invention, and thereby ensure that the media handlers provide the
required functionality. In this manner, media handler developers
can receive custom research reports to analyze the panel's exposure
to and interactions with such media handlers.
Media Terminology
[0065] A media type is a means to represent media information, such
as an image or a sound. For example, the PNG (Portable Network
Graphics) file format is a media type for representing computer
images. As used herein, a media object is an item or instance of a
media type. Currently, there are hundreds of media types in use.
Typically, media types are implemented as files, and increasingly
as objects, and allow for some means of attaching metadata, or
information about the data. In some cases, the metadata is
implemented as a text field that resides in a header preceding the
content data and can be extracted prior to decoding the content
data. Generally, extraction of the header data is not
computationally intensive, and can take place prior to or during
the decoding and display or playback of the content.
[0066] Every media type must have a corresponding media handler,
located at the end-user's client side to present a given media
object to an individual. As used herein, the term media handler
includes persistent software components which extend the
capabilities of a software application or an operating system to
present media objects of a particular media type to an individual
and autonomous software components, such as Java applets, which may
only temporarily extend the capabilities of the host to present
media. In addition, the term media handler includes software
applications that generate media experiences in real-time, such as
video games, and resident software components, such as the
PointCast.TM. agent, which present media to end users. In addition,
the term media handler includes those portions of an Internet
browser, also called "viewers" and "plug-ins", that are capable and
responsible for decoding specific media types, such as JPEG images,
and using the resources of their host to present the media to the
end user. The media handlers may be mobile, moving from one host
computer to another, or stable, anchored to one host.
[0067] Typically, an Internet browser software product has a
collection of internal media handlers, such as JPEG and GIF
decoders. When a browser encounters a media object of a given media
type, the browser transfers the media object to the appropriate
media handler for decoding. In addition, most browsers incorporate
"plug-in" architecture, which allows third parties to develop new
media types and distribute corresponding media handlers as
"plug-ins." For example, Netscape Navigator.TM. currently has over
two hundred compatible plug-ins available.
[0068] It is noted that for continuous media, such as audio and
video, identification tags are preferably placed at periodic
intervals throughout the duration of the media or on an associated
data channel. Since the identification tags might be utilized by
hostile software to automatically remove advertising, the
identification tags are preferably placed in both the advertising,
as well as the associated advertising-supported media objects to
discourage such automatic removal. In one preferred embodiment,
discussed below in conjunction with FIG. 12, real identification
tags are placed in media that is to be measured (and a fraction
that is not), and dummy identification tags are placed in other
content. As discussed further below, in order to permit the
research data collection agents 1500 to be tasked by the media
research controller 300 to report only registered media, the
research data collection agent 1500 can preferably distinguish real
identification tags from dummy identification tags, and, if
desired, return only real identification tags to the media research
controller 300.
Media Research Controller
[0069] FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the architecture of an
illustrative media research controller 300. The media research
controller 300 preferably includes certain standard hardware
components, such as a central processing unit (CPU) 310, a random
access memory (RAM) 320, a read only memory (ROM) 330, a clock 340,
a communications port 350, and a data storage device 360. The CPU
310 is preferably linked to each of the other listed elements,
either by means of a shared data bus, or dedicated connections, as
shown in FIG. 3.
[0070] The CPU 310 may be embodied as a single commercially
available processor, such as Intel's Pentium 100 MHz P54C
microprocessor, Motorola's 120 MHz PowerPC 604 microprocessor or
Sun Microsystem's 166 MHz UltraSPARC-I microprocessor.
Alternatively, the CPU 310 may be embodied as a number of such
processors operating in parallel, on one or more distributed
processing nodes. The data storage device 360 and/or ROM 330 are
operable to store one or more instructions, as discussed below in
conjunction with FIGS. 12 through 14, which the CPU 310 is operable
to retrieve, interpret and execute. The CPU 310 preferably includes
a control unit, an arithmetic logic unit (ALU), and a CPU local
memory storage device, such as, for example, an instruction cache
or a plurality of registers, in a known manner. The control unit is
operable to retrieve instructions from the data storage device 360
or ROM 330. The ALU is operable to perform a plurality of
operations needed to carry out instructions. The CPU local memory
storage device is operable to provide high-speed storage used for
storing temporary results and control information.
[0071] As discussed further below in conjunction with FIGS. 5
through 8, the data storage device 360 includes a central database
370 for storing a panel member database table 500, a registered
media database table 600, an encryption keys database table 700 and
a log entry database table 800. The panel member database table 500
preferably stores personal and demographic information for each
member of the panel. The registered media database table 600
preferably stores information about each media object that is
registered with the media research controller 300, including the
assigned tag identification number. The encryption keys database
table 700 preferably stores the public key/private key pairs that
are utilized in the illustrative embodiment to implement secure
communications. The log entry database table 800 preferably stores
information that has been extracted from or obtained about media
objects presented to panel members and provided to the media
research controller 300 by the remote media research agents
1500.
[0072] In addition, as discussed further below in conjunction with
FIGS. 12 through 14, the data storage device 360 preferably
includes a registration and tag encoding process 1200, a data
importing process 1300 and a reporting process 1400. Generally, the
registration and tag encoding process 1200 registers a particular
media object, and then places an assigned tag identification number
in the registered media object, or otherwise associates the tag
identification number with the media object. The data importing
process 1300 receives log dispatches from the remote media research
agents 1500, verifies the authenticity and integrity of the
received messages and places confirmed entries in the log entry
table 800. The reporting process 1400 preferably generates reports
in real-time or historically, to suit the needs of a particular
research customer 150.
[0073] The communications port 350 connects the media research
controller 300 to the external networks 130, thereby linking the
media research controller to each remote media research agent, as
shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. The communications port 350 preferably
includes multiple communication channels for simultaneously
connecting the media research controller 300 to multiple research
data collection agents.
Panel Member-Computing Device
[0074] FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the architecture of an
illustrative panel member-computing device 400. The panel
member-computing device 400 may be embodied as any device which
presents media to individuals, including, for example, an
Internet-enabled device, such as a network computer, a set-top box,
a television, a telephone, pager, or personal digital assistant.
The panel member-computing device 400 typically includes certain
standard hardware components, such as a central processing unit
(CPU) 410, a random access memory (RAM) 420, a read only memory
(ROM) 430, a clock 440, a communications port 450, and a data
storage device 460. Each of these components 410, 420, 430, 440,
450 and 460 may be identical to the corresponding components
described above in conjunction with FIG. 2. In addition, the panel
member-computing device 400 may include one or more output devices
470, such as a video display card and video monitor, a sound card
and speaker, and one or more multimedia players 480, such as a
CD-ROM or DVD device.
[0075] As discussed further below in conjunction with FIGS. 9
through 11, the data storage device 460 includes a local panel
member database table 900, a local encryption keys database table
1000 and media queues 490. The local panel member database table
900 preferably stores an indication of whether each panel member
associated with a given research data collection agent is currently
within the scope of the agent. The local encryption keys database
table 1000 preferably stores each of the public key values which
are required by the research data collection agent 1500 to
determine if a given extracted tag is a real tag or a dummy tag and
for secure communications with the media research controller 300.
The media queues 490 preferably store information that has been
extracted from or obtained about media objects presented to panel
members and provided to the research data collection agent by the
media handlers. As discussed further below in conjunction with
FIGS. 15a through 15f, the media queues 490 preferably consist of
an unfiltered media queue 1150, a filtered media queue 1170, each
containing log entry objects 1100, and a dispatch queue 1190,
containing dispatch objects 1130.
[0076] In addition, as discussed further below in conjunction with
FIGS. 15 through 17, the data storage device 460 preferably
includes a research data collection (RDC) agent 1500, a
RDC/cooperative media handler host 1600 and one or more cooperative
media handlers 1700. The research data collection (RDC) agent 1500
preferably includes (i) a logging process 1510 to create log entry
objects from transmissions received from the cooperative media
handlers and places the log entry objects into an unfiltered media
queue, (ii) a filtering process 1530 to confirm the integrity of
the messages and filter out unnecessary log entry objects from the
unfiltered media queue, using a decoding subroutine 1550 to create
a filtered media queue, (iii) a create dispatch process 1580 to
create dispatch objects using objects from the filtered media queue
and that places created dispatch objects into a dispatch queue, and
(iv) a dispatch process 1595 to transmit dispatch objects from the
dispatch queue to the media research controller, when resources are
available. The RDC/cooperative media handler host 1600 preferably
provides resources and services 1675 to hosted processes and
executes a tracking process 1605 to notify the research data
collection agents 1500 when a panel member enters or exits the
agent's scope. The cooperative media handlers 1700 preferably
receive and decode media objects and extract information from, or
otherwise obtain information about, presented media objects,
including identification tags, if present, for collection by
research data collection agents 1500.
[0077] It is noted that the research data collection agent process
1500 and related database tables 900, 1000, 1100 have been shown as
part of the panel member-computing device 400 for illustrative
purposes only, and could be resident on a device physically remote
from the panel member 205 in alternate embodiments, as previously
indicated, such as part of the panel member's net-centric
environment which is activated as a side effect of the person
obtaining access to network resources, or resident or hosted within
a wristwatch that the panel member wears.
[0078] The communications port 450 connects the panel
member-computing device 400 to the external networks 130, thereby
linking the computing device 400 to the media research controller
300 and content providers 110, 120, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. The
communications port 450 preferably includes multiple communication
channels for simultaneous connections.
Database Tables
[0079] FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary panel member database table
500 that preferably stores personal and demographic information for
each member of the panel. The panel member database table 500
maintains a plurality of records, such as records 505-520, each
associated with a different panel member. For each panel member
identified by a panel member identifier in field 540, the panel
member database table 500 includes the panel member's name, sex,
age, city and state in fields 545 through 565, respectively. In
addition, the panel member database table 500 includes an
indication of the member's education level and income in fields 570
and 575, the associated research data collection agent in field
580, and the member's email address in field 585. The panel member
identifier stored in field 540 may be utilized, for example, to
index the log entry table 800, discussed below in conjunction with
FIG. 8.
[0080] FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary registered media database
table 600 which preferably stores information about each media
object which is registered with the media research controller 300,
including the assigned tag identification number. The registered
media database table 600 maintains a plurality of records, such as
records 605-620, each associated with a different registered media
object. For each registered media object identified by a registered
media identification number (M.sub.1) in field 640, the registered
media database table 600 includes an indication of the entity which
registered the object, the associated agency and the media type in
fields 645 through 655, respectively. In addition, an encrypted and
digitally signed version of registered media identification number
preferably serves as the identification tag, C.sub.2, and is
recorded in field 660. Finally, the anticipated starting and ending
dates for which the media object will be distributed are recorded
in fields 665 and 670.
[0081] FIG. 7 illustrates an exemplary encryption keys database
table 700 that preferably stores the public key/private key pairs
which are utilized by the media research controller 300 in the
illustrative embodiment to implement encrypted communications with
the various entities and other security features. In a preferred
embodiment, the media research controller 300 generates public
key/private key pairs and securely distributes the various public
keys to the research data collection agents of the panel members.
In some embodiments, the agents may be provided with initial public
keys prior to distributing the agent. Thus, the encryption keys
database table 700 maintains a plurality of records, such as
records 705-720, each associated with a different public
key/private key pair. For each pair, identified by a key pair
identifier in field 740, the encryption keys database table 700
includes an indication of the key pair owner in field 745, namely,
the entity which holds the private key, such as the research data
collection agent (RDCA) 1500 or the media research controller (MRC)
300. In addition, the encryption keys database table 700 includes
the corresponding public key and private key values in fields 750
and 755, respectively.
[0082] FIG. 8 illustrates an exemplary log entry database table 800
which preferably stores information which has been extracted from
or obtained about media objects presented to panel members and
provided to the media research controller 300 by the research data
collection agents, in a manner described further below. The log
entry database table 800 maintains a plurality of records, such as
records 805-820, each associated with a different log entry. For
each log entry identified by an entry identifier in field 830, the
log entry database table 800 includes an identifier of the research
data collection agent 1500, cooperative media handler 1700, and
media handler host 1600' associated with the log entry object in
fields 835, 840 and 842, respectively. In this manner, the research
media controller 300 can generate custom reports to analyze a
panel's exposure to and interactions with the media handlers 1700
and media handler hosts 1600' themselves, in addition to the
underlying media objects of interest. In addition, each logged
entry includes an identifier of the particular media object and
panel member associated with the entry in fields 845 and 850, as
well as date and time stamps in fields 855 and 860. Each entry
preferably also includes any metadata, contextual information,
presentation information, and user interactions that were received
in the log entry object, in fields 865, 870, 875 and 880,
respectively.
[0083] As shown in FIG. 8, the metadata in field 865 may include
program identification information and the corresponding media
type. The contextual information in field 870 may include the URL
and other information indicating the source of the corresponding
media object, or the context in which it was presented to the panel
member. The presentation information in field 875 may include the
language and format in which the media object was presented to the
panel member, or other information indicating how the objected was
presented to the panel member, when alternative presentations are
possible. Finally, the user interactions in field 880 may specify
how the panel member interacted with the object, including whether
the panel member zoomed in on portions of the media object, or
rotated the object, as well as the size of the media object and any
user inputs.
[0084] FIG. 9 illustrates an exemplary local panel member database
table 900 which preferably stores a semaphore indicating whether
each panel member associated with a given research data collection
agent is currently within the scope of the agent. The local panel
member database table 900 maintains a plurality of records, such as
records 905-915, each associated with a different panel member. For
each panel member identified by a panel member identifier in field
940, the local panel member database table 900 contains a semaphore
in field 945 indicating whether or not the panel member is in
scope.
[0085] FIG. 10 illustrates an exemplary local encryption keys
database table 1000 which preferably stores each of the encryption
key values which are required by the research data collection agent
1500 to determine if a given extracted tag is a real tag or a dummy
tag and for secure communications with the media research
controller 300. The local encryption keys database table 1000
maintains a plurality of records, such as records 1005-1020, each
associated with a different encryption key. For each public key
identified by a local key identifier in field 1040, the local
encryption keys database table 1000 includes a key pair identifier
in field 1045 and the key value in field 1050.
[0086] FIG. 11 illustrates an exemplary log entry object 1100 from
the media queues 490, which preferably stores information which has
been extracted from or obtained about a given media object
presented to one or more panel members and provided to the research
data collection agent 1500 by the cooperative media handlers 1700.
The log entry object 1100 consists of a plurality of elements,
including a date/time stamp 1102, panel member interactions 1104,
media handler identifier 1106, presentation information 1108,
identification tag 1110, panel member identifier 1112, contextual
information 1114, metadata 1116 and the media handler host
identifier 1118. Each of these information types has been described
above in conjunction with FIG. 8. In addition, the log entry object
1100 can include a copy of the media object itself, if desired.
Processes
[0087] As discussed above, the media research controller 300
preferably executes a tag registration and encoding process 1200,
shown in FIG. 12a, to register a particular media object, and to
place an assigned tag identification number in the registered media
object, or on a simultaneous channel. As illustrated in FIG. 12a,
the media research controller 300 begins the processes embodying
the principles of the present invention during step 1210 upon
receipt of a request to register a particular media object.
[0088] Thereafter, the media research controller 300 assigns a
media identification key, M.sub.1, during step 1215 and creates a
record of the media object in the registered media database table
600. In one embodiment, the identification tags are based on an
extended version of the ISCI standard. In a preferred embodiment,
the media research controller 300 utilizes a doubly encrypted
identification tag to protect the security of the media
identification key, which is preferably never made available
outside the media research controller 300. Thus, the assigned media
identification key, M.sub.1, is preferably strongly encrypted with
a private key, K.sub.1, during step 1220 to produce a payload,
C.sub.1. Thereafter, the payload, C.sub.1, is digitally signed with
a private key, K.sub.2, to create a digital signature, DS.sub.1,
during step 1225 and then the digital signature, DS.sub.1, is
prepended to the payload, C.sub.1, during step 1230 to produce a
new message, M.sub.2, shown in FIG. 12b. It is noted that the new
message, M.sub.2, may optionally include bit padding to increase
C.sub.1 to a predefined length. Finally, the new message, M.sub.2,
is encrypted with a private key, K.sub.3, during step 1235 to
produce a real tag, C.sub.2. For a more detailed discussion of
suitable encryption and security techniques, see B. Schneier,
Applied Cryptography (2d ed. 1997), incorporated by reference
herein.
[0089] Thereafter, the real tag, C.sub.2, is placed in the media
object during step 1240, or on a simultaneous channel, and also
placed in field 660 of the registered media database 600. The
identification tag can be bound to the content in a variety of
ways. Preferably, the advertisement or other media is represented
as an object, and has been designed to implement the cooperative
approach associated with the present invention by reserving a field
or sub-object for storing the identification tag. It is important
that the identification tag does not interfere in any way with the
normal use of the media by any media handler or media handler host
that has not implemented the cooperative API described herein.
Binding can be generally achieved since the most prevalent media
file formats and datatypes support extension through user-defined
chunks or objects. As a last resort, the identification tag might
be stored within an embedded comment field, into its URL, or even
through steganography (hidden codes).
[0090] Finally, the media object is released for distribution
during step 1245, before program control ends during step 1250.
[0091] As discussed above, dummy identification tags may be
utilized in some content to prevent hostile software from
automatically removing advertising media objects. To promote the
use of dummy identification tags, they are preferably constructed
simply as a random sequence of n bits, as shown in FIG. 12c. In an
alternate embodiment, the functionality for generating both real
and dummy identification tags and encoding the identification tags
into the media objects can be performed by third parties, such as
advertising agencies or commercial producers, including edit houses
or production facilities.
[0092] As discussed above, the media research controller 300
preferably executes a data importing process 1300, shown in FIG.
13, to receive log dispatches from the remote media research agents
1500, verify the authenticity and integrity of the received
messages and place confirmed entries in the log entry table 800. As
illustrated in FIG. 13, the media research controller 300 executes
the data importing process upon receipt of a log dispatch from a
research data collection agent during step 1310.
[0093] Thereafter, the data importing process verifies the
authenticity and integrity of the dispatch during step 1320 and
then decrypts the dispatch during step 1330. Finally, the data
importing process places all confirmed entries from the dispatch in
the log entry database table 800 during step 1340 before program
control terminates during step 1350.
[0094] As previously indicated, the media research controller 300
preferably executes a real-time reporting process 1400, or a
non-real-time reporting process 1400', to generate reports suited
to the needs of a particular research customer 150. As shown in
FIG. 14, the data importing process 1300, discussed above, will
create records of data received from the research data collection
agents 1500 in a central database 370, from which the reports will
be generated. The reports will be formatted to present available
data, in a conventional manner, according to the needs one or more
research customers 150. The customers 150 can access the reports
over the external networks 130, or the reports can be printed
off-line and provided to the customer 150, as would be apparent to
a person of ordinary skill.
Research Data Collection Agent
[0095] As shown in FIG. 15a, the research data collection agent
1500 preferably includes a logging process 1510, a filter process
1530, a create-dispatch object process 1580 and a dispatch process
1595, discussed further below in conjunction with FIGS. 15b, 15c,
15e and 15f, respectively. The logging process 1510 is executed by
the research data collection agent 1500 to receive messages from
cooperative media handlers 1700 and create entry objects in an
unfiltered media queue 1150. The filter process 1530 is executed to
filter out dummy tags and other unnecessary information from the
unfiltered media queue 1150 to create a filtered media queue 1170.
Finally, the research data collection agent 1500 executes the
create-dispatch object process 1580 to place the entries from the
filtered media queue 1170 into a dispatch queue 1190 for
transmission to the media research controller 300, by the dispatch
process 1195 when resources are available. It is noted that the
research data collection agent 1500 may also receive information
regarding specific transactions made by an associated panel member,
from a cooperative financial or end-user transaction process, as
would be apparent to a person of ordinary skill, based on the
disclosure herein.
[0096] As previously indicated, the research data collection agent
1500 executes a logging process 1510, shown in FIG. 15b, to receive
messages from the cooperative media handler 1700 and to create
entries in the unfiltered media queue 1150. Thus, the logging
process 1510 is entered during step 1515 upon receipt by the
research data collection agent 1500 of a message from a cooperative
media handler 1700 by means of the host 1600 of the media handler
1700, containing an extracted identification tag, C.sub.2', if
available, and other information. Thereafter, the logging process
1510 creates a log entry object 1100 with the identification tag
and other received information in the unfiltered media queue 1150
during step 1520, which is added to the tail of the unfiltered
media queue 1150 during step 1525 before program control terminates
during step 1528.
[0097] As discussed above, the research data collection agent 1500
periodically executes a filter process 1530, shown in FIG. 15c, to
filter out dummy tags and other unnecessary information from the
unfiltered media queue 1150 to create a filtered media queue 1170.
As shown in FIG. 15c, the filter process 1530 performs a test
during step 1532 to determine if the unfiltered media queue 1150 is
empty. If it is determined during step 1532 that the unfiltered
media queue 1150 is empty, then program control ends during step
1548. If, however, it is determined during step 1532 that the
unfiltered media queue 1150 is not empty, then a log entry object
1100 is retrieved from the head of the unfiltered media queue 1150
during step 1534.
[0098] Thereafter, a test is performed during step 1535 to
determine whether the media research controller 300 has instructed
the research data collection agent 1500 to return information only
about registered media. If it is determined during step 1535 that
the media research controller 300 has not instructed the research
data collection agent 1500 to return information only about
registered media, then program control proceeds to step 1540. If,
however, it is determined during step 1535 that the media research
controller 300 has instructed the research data collection agent
1500 to return information only about registered media, then a
decoding subroutine 1550, discussed below in conjunction with FIG.
15d, is executed during step 1536 to determine if the received tag,
C.sub.2', stored in the current entry object 1100 of the unfiltered
media queue 1150, contains a real identification tag, which is
generally associated with registered media.
[0099] After the subroutine 1550 executes, a test is performed
during step 1538 to determine if the received tag, C.sub.2', stored
in the current log entry object 1100, contains a real
identification tag. If it is determined during step 1538 that the
received tag, C.sub.2', stored in the current log entry object
1100, does not contain a real identification tag, then program
control returns directly to step 1532 to process additional log
entry objects 1100, if any. If, however, it is determined during
step 1538 that the received tag, C.sub.2', stored in the log entry
object 1100, does contain a real identification tag, then the
current log entry object 1100 is placed in the filtered media queue
1170 during step 1540. Thereafter, program control returns to step
1532 to process additional log entry objects 1100, if any, in the
manner described above.
[0100] In this manner, for efficiency purposes, if the research
data collection agent 1500 is tasked by the media research
controller to report only registered media, then the research data
collection agent 1500 preferably only returns log entry objects
1100 containing real identification tags to the media research
controller 300. The research data collection agent 1500 preferably
does not know, however, whether or not the media object containing
a real identification tag is an advertisement. As previously
indicated, real identification tags are preferably placed in a
small percentage of the advertising-subsidized media objects as a
countermeasure against hostile advertising filtering software.
Thus, if the research data collection agent's local encryption keys
K.sub.2 and K.sub.3 are compromised and obtained by advertising
filtering software, the advertising filtering software erroneously
filters out some non-advertising media objects. It is noted that
advertising filtering software is further discouraged by the
preferred selection of challenging encryption techniques, since the
research data collection agent 1500 can evaluate the authenticity
of a received tag hours after the media is presented, while the
advertising filtering software typically would need to decrypt the
identification tags in real-time.
[0101] As previously indicated, the filter process 1530 executes a
decoding subroutine 1550, shown in FIG. 15d, during step 1536 to
determine if the received tag, C.sub.2', stored in the current
record of the unfiltered media log 1100, contains a real
identification tag. The decoding subroutine 1550 is entered during
step 1554, where the received tag, C.sub.2', is decrypted to create
a message, M.sub.2', using the value of the public key, K.sub.3,
stored in the local encryption keys database table 1000. The
decoding subroutine 1550 then creates a digital signature,
DS.sub.1', from the first in hits of the message, M.sub.2', and
creates C.sub.1' from the remainder during step 1558.
[0102] Thereafter, a test is performed during step 1562 to
determine if the digital signature, DS.sub.1', is a valid digital
signature of C.sub.1'. If it is determined during step 1562 that
the digital signature, DS.sub.1', is a valid digital signature of
C.sub.1' then the decoding subroutine returns an indication during
step 1564 to the filter process 1530 that the received tag is a
real identification tag. If, however, it is determined during step
1562 that the digital signature, DS.sub.1', is not a valid digital
signature of C.sub.1' then the decoding subroutine returns an
indication during step 1568 to the filter process 1530 that the
received tag is an invalid or dummy identification tag. In order to
implement the security algorithms discussed in FIG. 15d, the
research data collection agent 1500 preferably has access to the
necessary cryptographic services through its host, and has received
the required public keys, K.sub.2 and K.sub.3, by means of a secure
distribution method from the media research controller 300.
[0103] As discussed above, the research data collection agent 1500
executes a create-dispatch object process 1580, shown in FIG. 15e,
to place entries from the filtered media queue 1170 into a dispatch
queue 1190 for transmission by the dispatch process 1190, shown in
FIG. 15f, to the media research controller 300, when resources are
available. Initially, the create-dispatch object process 1580
performs a test during step 1581 to determine if the filtered media
queue 1170 is empty. If it is determined during step 1581 that the
filtered media queue 1170 is empty, then program control ends
during step 1582.
[0104] If, however, it is determined during step 1581 that the
filtered media queue 1170 is not empty, then a further test is
performed during step 1583 to determine if a dispatch object 1130
already exists. If it is determined during step 1583 that a
dispatch object 1130 already exists, then program control proceeds
directly to step 1585. If, however, it is determined during step
1583 that a dispatch object 1130 does not already exist, then a new
dispatch object 1130 is created during step 1584.
[0105] Thereafter, a log entry object 1100 is retrieved from the
head of the filtered media queue 1150 during step 1585, and placed
in the dispatch object 1130. Thereafter, a test is performed during
step 1587 to determine if the filtered media queue 1170 is empty or
if the dispatch object 1130 is full. If it is determined during
step 1585 that the filtered media queue 1170 is not empty and that
the dispatch object 1130 is not full, then program control returns
to step 1581 to continue processing additional log entry objects
1100 from the filtered media queue 1170, if any.
[0106] If, however, it is determined during step 1585 that the
filtered media queue 1170 is empty or that the dispatch object 1130
is full, then the dispatch object 1130 will be compressed and
digitally signed during step 1588. Thereafter, the compressed
dispatch object 1130 will preferably be encrypted during step 1589
using the public key, K.sub.4, of the media research controller
300. Finally, the compressed and encrypted dispatch object 1130
will be added to the tail of the dispatch queue 1190 during step
1590 and program control returns to step 1581 and continues in the
manner discussed above.
[0107] As previously indicated, a dispatch process 1595, shown in
FIG. 15f, transmits dispatch objects 1130 from the dispatch queue
1190 to the media research controller 300, when resources are
available. Thus, a test is initially performed during step 1596 to
determine if the dispatch queue 1190 is empty. If it is determined
during step 1596 that the dispatch queue 1190 is empty, then
program control terminates during step 1597. If, however, it is
determined during step 1596 that the dispatch queue 1190 is not
empty, then a dispatch object 1130 is removed from the head of the
dispatch queue 1190 during step 1598 and sent to the media research
controller 300 during step 1599. Thereafter, program control
returns to step 1596 to process additional dispatch objects 1130,
if any, in the manner described above.
Host Process(es)
[0108] As previously indicated, the RDC/cooperative media handler
host 1600 preferably executes a tracking process 1605, shown in
FIG. 16, to notify the hosted research data collection agents 1500
when a panel member enters or exits the agent's scope. In addition,
as discussed above, the research data collection agents 1500 and
the cooperative media handlers 1700 preferably rely on services and
resources provided by the host processes for processing, security,
storage and communication. In the illustrative embodiment discussed
herein, an Internet browser software product, such as Netscape
Navigator.TM. or Microsoft Internet Explorer.TM., resident on the
panel member-computing device 400, serves as the host for both the
research data collection agent 1500 and the cooperative media
handler 1700 and provides them with computational resources.
[0109] Thus, as shown in FIG. 16, an illustrative tracking process
1605 continuously reports when a panel member enters or exits its
scope during step 1610. Once the tracking process 1605 determines
that a panel member has entered the scope of a research data
collection agent, a message is sent to the hosted research data
collection agent 1500 during step 1620 monitoring the panel member
indicating that a panel member has entered the agent's scope.
[0110] Thereafter, the tracking process 1605 continuously monitors
the panel member during step 1630 until the panel member leaves the
scope of the hosted research data collection agent 1500. If it is
determined during step 1630 that the panelist has left the scope of
the hosted research data collection agent 1500, then a message is
sent to the hosted research data collection agent 1500 during step
1640 indicating that a panel member has left the agent's scope. A
test is then performed during step 1645 to determine if tracking
should be suspended. If it is determined during step 1645 that
tracking should not be suspended, then program control returns to
step 1610 to continue tracking, in the manner described above. If,
however, it is determined during step 1645 that tracking should be
suspended, then program control terminates during step 1650.
Cooperative Media Handlers
[0111] As discussed above, the cooperative media handler process
1700, shown in FIG. 17, preferably presents media objects and
extracts information from, or otherwise obtains information about,
presented media objects, including identification tags, if present,
for collection by research data collection agents 1500, whether or
not a research data collection agent 1500 is actually present. In
an alternate implementation, the cooperative media handler 1700 can
transmit all information obtained about a media object directly to
the media research controller 300 and perform all other tasks
associated with the research data collection agents 1500. In other
words, the cooperative media handler 1700 can directly serve as the
software agent of the media research controller 300, without the
need of an intermediary research data collection agent 1500, as
would be apparent to a person of ordinary skill.
[0112] In one embodiment, the media handler 1700 is provided with
one or more remotely configurable settings which may be dynamically
specified by the research data collection agent 1500 or the media
research controller 300 to help filter out information which is not
of interest to the research data collection agent 1500.
Alternatively, the media handler 1700 can query its host to
identify the information of interest to the research data
collection agent 1500. If, however, the host does not want to
inform the media handler 1700 that no research data collection
agent 1500 is present, the host might have the media handler 1700
pass everything. Thus, the media handler 1700 preferably reports
information according to instructions received from the research
data collection agent 1500 via its host.
[0113] As shown in FIG. 17, a cooperative media handler 1700 is
initiated by its host 1600', such as the illustrative Internet
browser, upon receipt of a media object having a media type that is
compatible with the media handler. Thereafter, the media handler
process 1700 decodes and parses the media object during step 1705,
in a known manner. A test is then performed during step 1710 to
determine if there is media object information associated with the
media object, such as an identification tag, metadata or contextual
information. As previously indicated, metadata may include program
identification information and the corresponding media type and
contextual information may include the URL and other information
indicating the source of the corresponding media object, or the
context in which it was presented to the end user. If it is
determined during step 1710 that there is media object information
associated with the media object, then a test is performed during
step 1785 to determine if a message has already been created for
the research data collection agent 1500. If it is determined during
step 1785 that a message has already been created for the research
data collection agent 1500, then program control proceeds directly
to step 1795. If, however, it is determined during step 1785 that a
message has not yet been created for the research data collection
agent 1500, then a message is created during step 1790.
[0114] Thereafter, the media object information identified during
step 1710 is added to the agent message during step 1795.
Thereafter, a further test is performed during step 1720 to
determine if there is media to present to a user. If it is
determined during step 1720 that there is no media to present to a
user, then program control proceeds directly to step 1740. If,
however, it is determined during step 1720 that there is media to
present to a user, then a conventional presentation process is
performed during step 1725 to present the media. A test is then
performed during step 1730 to determine if there is presentation
information to report to the research data collection agent 1500.
As previously indicated, presentation information may include the
language and format in which the media object was presented to the
panel member, or other information indicating how the object was
presented to the panel member, when alternative presentations are
possible. If it is determined during step 1730 that there is no
presentation information to report to the research data collection
agent 1500, then program control proceeds directly to step 1760.
Tf, however, it is determined during step 1730 that there is
presentation information to report to the research data collection
agent 1500, then the presentation information identified during
step 1730 is added to the message during step 1735.
[0115] A test is performed during step 1740 to determine if user
interactions are received during the presentation of the media
object. If it is determined during step 1740 that user interactions
are received during the presentation of the media object, then
program control proceeds directly to step 1760. If, however, it is
determined during step 1740 that user interactions are received
during the presentation of the media object, then the user
interactions are received and processed during step 1745. A test is
then performed during step 1750 to determine if there is user
interaction information to report to the research data collection
agent 1500. As previously indicated, user interaction information
may specify how the panel member interacted with the object,
including whether the panel member zoomed in on portions of the
media object, or rotated the object, as well as the size of the
media object and any user inputs.
[0116] If it is determined during step 1750 that there is no user
interaction information to report to the research data collection
agent 1500, then program control proceeds directly to step 1760.
If, however, it is determined during step 1750 that there is user
interaction information to report to the research data collection
agent 1500, then the user interaction information identified during
step 1750 is added to the message during step 1755.
[0117] A test is performed during step 1760 to determine if the
presentation of the media object is finished. If it is determined
during step 1760 that the presentation of the media object is not
finished, then program control will return to step 1705 to continue
processing in the manner described above. If, however, it is
determined during step 1760 that the presentation of the media
object is finished, then a test is performed during step 1765 to
determine if there is a message to be sent to the research data
collection agent 1500. If it is determined during step 1765 that
there is a message to be sent to the research data collection agent
1500, then the message is completed during step 1770, for example,
by adding media handler identifying information, and a final time
and date stamp. Thereafter, the completed message is sent to the
research data collection agent 1500. Program control will then
terminate during step 1780.
[0118] It is to be understood that the embodiments and variations
shown and described herein are merely illustrative of the
principles of this invention and that various modifications may be
implemented by those skilled in the art without departing from the
scope and spirit of the invention.
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